One Selfless Act
by gutter.xromance
Summary: "And when he smiled at her, Katara was reminded of the villians in the stories her mother used to tell her, and she felt suddenly that she had fallen for some great, elaborate trick." On a moonless night the Fire Nation raids the North Pole, and Katara's selfless act to protect her best friend has far reaching consequences she could never have imagined. AU. ZUTARA.
1. New Moon

**One Selfless Act**

**Ch. 1 – New Moon**

_I am a shadow on the wall,_  
_I will be the one to save us all_  
- Blow Me Away, Breaking Benjamin

_A nightmare_. _This is a nightmare, it must be._

Hand outstretched, it was the first thought to cross her mind as the flakes of black snow drifted slowly into her gloved palm. As if they were harmless, as if they weren't the harbinger of something horrible. The world around her faded away, and despite the chill she knew that the flush had drained from her cheeks and in her ears all she could hear was the heavy drumming of her erratic heart. She thought they were safe here! But suddenly, she was eight years old again, her gloved hand much smaller, catching the same black snow.

"_I'm going to find mom!"_

The difference between then and now? She knew what it meant and she was not the same little girl that she was that day. No, she was a waterbender and a strong one at that, one of the few female waterbenders in the Northern Water Tribe; a position she scraped and _fought_ for, challenged Master Pakku for when she was still a novice. And her determination had won her the position as Princess Yue's personal guard. This time she would not be helpless.

She looked around at the people crowding the frozen streets, looking up into the sky with confusion. Of course, they had never seen the black snow, but the few faces that she recognized from the Southern Tribe had terror etched into the lines of their faces. She turned her gaze toward the great, frozen wall that guarded the city, and in the distance the sky was calm, there were no towering plumes of smoke, but she knew there soon would be. Soon there would be ships, and soldiers, and _fire_.

"Katara?" The soft voice broke through Katara's momentary shock and she turned her head toward her friend and ward. Yue's eyes were wide and curious as they regarded her, gloved hand also outstretched to catch the black snow. "What's happening?" she wondered and her voice was small, unsure.

Katara swallowed, she needed to be strong for the princess. "We have to get you back to the palace, and I need to find Sokka."

"But -"

"Yue, _please_." Katara pleaded, reaching out to take the princess by the arm.

Whether it was Katara's tone of voice or the expression on her face, Princess Yue nodded silently. For the moment, Katara focused on her duty, protecting the princess, leading her through the now crowded streets as people came out of their houses to witness the phenomenon of the black snow and warriors ran in their opposite direction toward the wall. And while Katara could see Yue grow more curious, she couldn't bring herself to explain what the black snow meant, not yet because it couldn't have come at a worse time of the month.

Once they reached Princess Yue's chambers, the princess turned to her. "Now will you explain what's going on, Katara? I've never seen you like this before."

Katara felt herself sigh heavily, crossing her arms over her chest. How could she explain it to someone so innocent as Yue? Of course the princess knew of the raging war outside the walls of ice that surrounded her, but Katara doubted if the war had ever touched so close to the princess's home. How could she explain what the black snow preceded and the devastation that usually followed after it?

"The black snow," she began, "it's the first sign of a Fire Nation raid."

"What?" Yue gasped. "But the Fire Nation has never raided here before!"

Katara nodded and replied, "I know. That's the reason many of my people chose to migrate here, we thought we would be safe." And now she was learning that nowhere was truly safe.

Yue began to pace, something anyone but Katara rarely saw because the two were rarely out of the other's sight. And Katara could see the gears beginning to turn in her friend's mind, what she could do to help her people, why this was happening now. But she seemed at a loss because she found herself in an unfamiliar situation and her stride began to slow, until she finally turned to Katara with determined eyes.

"What can I do?" she asked.

"For now, you can stay here and stay safe," Katara told her.

Katara was not surprised to see the frustrated blush rise to the apple of Yue's cheeks, she knew the princess was not going to like that answer. "What? How can you say that! I have a duty to my people and they need me right now and you're telling me to stay here and hide?"

"And _I_ have a duty to protect _you!_" Katara snapped, unconcerned with the consequences because she was perhaps the only person who could get away with raising her voice to the princess without reprimand. "I am not telling you to hide, your people _need_ you safe. If something were to happen to your father, sprits forbid, they will look to you to lead them."

Yue's shoulders slumped in defeat as she sighed. "I just feel so helpless knowing there's nothing I can do."

Katara's heart suddenly clenched and she took two steps toward Yue, placing her hands on her shoulders. "I've known helplessness, and you are far from helpless. The love you have for your people is _not_ helplessness and there is something you can do."

The princess raised her head, a smile lighting her face. "There is?"

The princess's guardian nodded. "You can be strong." Katara's eyes drifted to the window, her heart seeming to drop to her stomach when she noticed that the black snow was beginning to fall heavier. "I have to go," she said, her eyes still out the window, "but I'll come back as soon as I know what's going on."

Yue nodded and threw her arms around Katara's neck. "Be careful," she whispered.

"I promise. I'll be back soon."

Katara left the palace quickly, making sure the palace guards knew that Yue was not to leave the grounds unless she returned. Despite the fact that many of them were twice her age, Katara's strength and determination had won her the respect of many and so they nodded obligingly as she passed. She made her way quickly back through the city, avoiding the more frequented thoroughfares sure that they would be becoming more crowded with curious townsfolk who had never seen the black snow. While she would have gone to the barracks and training grounds in search of her brother because that's also where Yue's father would be, Katara knew that was not where _Sokka_ would be. She knew that as soon as her brother saw the black snow, he would be atop the wall in the watch tower wanting to see the Fire Nation ships approach to get a better idea of the numbers they would be facing.

"Took you longer than I expected," Sokka commented when Katara crested the final step into the watchtower. And despite the situation they would be facing, there was a wry smile on her brother's face.

"Princess Yue was not exactly excited about staying in the palace," Katara told him as she came to stand beside him.

Now that she was standing in the watchtower, she knew why the black snow was falling thicker. On the horizon she could see the plumes of smoke as they tumbled into the sky, bringers of destruction and though they were so far away still, Katara's memory brought the sounds of the ship's engines to the forefront of her mind as though they were already at their shore. With a steadying breath, she had to brace herself against the wall.

"Part of me thought we really had escaped this," she said quietly, and her hand ventured to the necklace tied around her throat.

Almost ten years Katara and her brother had been living happily in the North, their last run-in with the Fire Nation being the raid that killed their mother. After that, their father and all the warriors of their tribe left for war and the majority of the Southern Water Tribe made the harrowing journey to the other side of the world hoping that the high walls of the North would protect them from the Fire Nation and their penchant for destruction. They had been happy, Sokka trained as a warrior like he always wanted and Katara became a skilled waterbender and the last letter they received from Gran-Gran said that she was contemplating finally making the journey to the North to be with them. Everything was going so well and now _this!_

"Yeah," Sokka answered, slowly raising the telescope to his face. Out of the corner of her eye, Katara watched the tendon in her brother's jaw tighten noticeably.

"How bad?" she demanded. She should've known the answer already, Sokka wasn't a very serious person and the tension in his body language was putting her nerves on edge.

He lowered the device and held it out to her. "Bad."

She snatched the telescope from him, raising it to her eye, and she couldn't help that her mouth dropped open when she saw the forces sailing toward them. There were at least thirty Fire Nation ships sailing full steam towards them and each ship could easily hold hundreds of soldiers. This wasn't a raid, it was an invasion, an attempt at a siege. Katara lowered the telescope handing it back to her brother and turned her eyes toward the horizon. It was early in the evening, the sky just beginning to show signs of turning pink and purple where the water met its edge. At the rate the ships were sailing, they would be knocking down the walls by dusk.

"We're going to need you here, Katara," Sokka told her.

She sighed, "I know, but I don't know what good I'm going to be to you."

Sokka balked, "What? You're one of the best benders in the North, what do you mean you'll be no good!"

Katara almost laughed, that was high praise coming from Sokka who considered her bending to be "magic". She closed her eyes and breathed, because Sokka didn't understand. He was a warrior, not a bender and his strength was physical, he didn't feel the push and pull of the power inside of her. She could already feel the waning, the receding of her abilities now that the sun was beginning to set where there should have been be a build- up of power. And feeling the recede instead of the swell made Katara feel like a void was opening in her chest, starving for the silver of moonlight.

"Waterbenders rise with the moon, Sokka," she told him. "There is no moon tonight."

Katara heard her brother swear under his breath with a sudden understanding and he leaned against the low wall beside her. "That's why this is happening today, our benders will be at their weakest." He pushed himself away abruptly. "I need to get to the barracks."

Sokka left Katara there and she watched the determined set of his shoulders disappear before turning herself back to the darkening horizon. The palace was not where she was needed right now, she decided. They would need all the waterbenders they had at the wall because even though the enemies numbers were greater, they would be evenly matched in terms of bending because while there would be no moon for the waterbenders to draw strength, there would be no sun for the firebenders to do the same.

And yet, this thought did not bring Katara much more comfort.

.

.

Putting on the pieces of her armor felt different this time. It was likely that after today her armor would finally bear signs of battle and the idea of that made Katara's hands shake just slightly as she slid on the bracers over her forearms. In reality, she should wear it at all times being the princess's personal guard, but Yue had little to fear from her own people. The only time Katara really wore it was every few months when the warriors, benders and palace guards would stage a mock coup to determine response times in what had become sort of a game they affectionately called "Capture the Princess". Since Katara's appointment to Yue's personal guard the "enemy" was always struck down before they could reach the princess – something that brought great comfort to the princess's father.

Perhaps they had become complacent, Katara mused as she reached down to tie her boots. They had never run a scenario of an outside attack because they never thought they would have to suffer one. But here the day had come and their forces were reeling and scrambling in shock at the news and the inevitable. They never ran scenarios where their benders were weakened by a moonless night but now it had come and the Fire Nation was on their doorsteps. Nowhere was truly safe from the Fire Nation, they should have known that and the thought that she had allowed herself to become so _naïve _brought a burn of tears to the corner of Katara's eyes.

Katara stood from the edge of her bed moving to stand before the mirror in her room. Her armor wasn't really anything impressive, nearly a matched set to her brother's – a leather cuirass over the thick tunic of her wolf armor over a suit made of seal-turtle blubber meant to keep in warmth and fit her like a second skin because fighting in a thick fur coat was impractical. The difference between Katara's armor and her brother's armor was the symbol on her chest, marking her as a bender.

The door to her bedroom opened as Katara slung her waterskins across her body. Princess Yue stood in the doorway unsurely, her hands ringing. "This is really happening, isn't it?" she said.

Katara sighed and turned toward her friend. "Unfortunately yes."

"You'll be at the gates?"

A nod. "Yes. The palace guards will keep you safe… I have to go where I'm needed."

Yue nodded in understanding and took a few steps toward Katara. "There's something I want you to have," she said, reaching for the thin chain around her neck. From the neck of her dress the princess produced a small vial filled with water and tightly corked. Katara had seen the charm many times but never knew what it was. "It's water from the spirit oasis, it's supposed to have special properties, and I want you to have it."

Katara shook her head, pressing Yue's hands away from her. "I can't accept it, Yue. It's not meant for me," she insisted.

Yue's eyebrows slammed down and came together, her mouth pursing in determination. "You _will_ accept it, Katara. It's a new moon tonight, hopefully you'll be able to draw strength from having the blessed water so near to you," Yue said as she pushed Katara's hands away and clasped the charm around her neck, tucking it into the neck of her armor.

Silently and a bit begrudgingly, Katara accepted the gift smiling at her friend and pulled the princess into a hug. "You're the best friend I've ever had, Yue," she told the princess.

Yue laughed. "You're the only friend I've ever had."

.

.

She had been standing on the ramparts for the majority of the night overlooking the Fire Nation ships as they occupied the water beyond. The other warriors and benders were becoming increasingly anxious because the ships had made no hostile move, no opening attack and Chief Arnook ordered that they attack only in retaliation. But the Fire Nation ships merely sat, immobile in the water and no soldiers had been observed on the decks.

Katara kept time by the position of the stars, watched them gradually move across the sky as the hours passed. And she realized the Fire Nation's plan too late. When the first fire ball lit up the sky in a blaze of orange, Katara and the other waterbenders in her unit moved as one singular body, raising the water and diverting flaming ball into the cliff where it crashed with a shaking force and fell back into the water.

But the sky became lit with many more, providing cover fire for the three ships that moved forward and the wall under her feet trembled with each impact. Katara's unit began to focus on bending the iceberg spikes that surrounded the city and it took effort, more effort than Katara would like to admit weakened by the lack of moonlight as she was but with a combined effort of her waterbending unit, a giant spike of ice speared one of the metal ships and its catapult toppled over sending the blazing ball of fire into the neighboring ship – Katara almost laughed at the sight.

But it wasn't enough and soon enough a ship broke through the great wall of ice. Katara and her unit were ordered off the wall to assist the ground troops, as the giant ship, half in the great ice wall, spewed forth several platoons of Fire Nation soldiers. Already their warriors were engaging the soldiers in combat, and already men were falling. All around her Katara heard the orchestra of battle, the hiss of flames, the resonance of blades and grunts of men. The scene unfolding around her was unlike anything Katara had ever seen; in the heat of battle no one was human, and while she had trained and practiced for moments like this for years she was not quite ready to face the brutal reality of war.

"Katara move!" someone shouted followed by a heavy force slamming into her, knocking her to the ground and she heard a blast of fire burn through the air as it sailed over them. Sokka pushed himself off of her in rush and threw his boomerang at the soldier, catching it effortlessly when it curved back through the air toward him.

He pulled Katara to her feet. "What are you doing just standing here, are you trying to get yourself killed!" he shouted at her and she could barely hear him with the fight going on around them. "You need to get it together Katara!"

Still amid all the fighting, that's when the brother and sister noticed the final group of soldiers step off the battleship embedded in the wall of ice. Somehow, these six soldiers were different from the others, their armor was different, more complex, better quality and they moved through the fighting as if they were taking a pleasant stroll. Anyone who attempted an attack on the small entourage was quickly and ruthlessly cut down.

"Where are they going?" Sokka wondered and abruptly grabbed his sister's wrist, tugging her along after him. "Come on!"

They followed the small group of soldiers staying out of eyesight and earshot, but it was a little harder when they reached the city's populated streets, because they were empty. The city's noncombatants were confined to their homes as a curfew had been put in effect in an attempt to protect them. And this small group of elite soldiers (Katara and Sokka figured they must have been elite soldiers) walked forward with purpose.

"Divide and conquer?" Sokka suggested.

Katara smirked. "Definitely."

With a smirk of his own, Sokka darted out of the alleyway they had been lurking in while Katara stayed behind. She heard his footsteps against the ice, heard Sokka shout to get the soldiers' attention and the chink of his boomerang against a helmet and the area lit up with a blast of fire before Sokka's footsteps were heard again. He rounded back into the alley, past Katara, who, as soon as the soldier was fully hidden by the alleyway, swept him up in a wave and froze him, spread eagled, to the wall.

"Why are you here?" Katara demanded.

The soldier eyed her with disdain. "Water tribe scum!" he shouted and spit at her.

Before she could even wipe away his saliva, Sokka darted forward and punched the man. "Don't talk to my sister like that! Now answer her!"

The man said nothing, merely glared at them and Katara lost patience after only a few minutes of his silence – they didn't have time for this! The longer they dealt with this fire soldier, the further into the city the remaining five got. With a sigh, Katara uncorked one of her waterskins, bending the water around her hand for a moment before thrusting her arm forward encasing the soldier's neck in a collar of thick ice.

"The longer you take to tell me the tighter this will become," she warned him, flexing her fingers closer together in example, pleased with herself when the soldier gasped as the ice tightened around his throat.

He tried to struggle free, and Katara realized that he must not have been a bender because he could have easily melted the ice securing him to the wall. When he began to struggle for breath, savoring every gasping intake of air, his eyes grew wide as if in disbelief that she would truly continue to tighten the ice collar because despite her armor he must not have thought she had it in her.

When Katara could see the flesh of his neck plumping against the edge of the collar, he finally started the stammer. "Her… fer... Pri… pri -" he cut himself off in a fit of coughing and unpleasant gagging. She flexed her fingers back out just slightly to allow him more room. "Princc-sss!" he coughed.

"… Prince? We don't have a – Princess! They're here for the princess!" Katara shouted and the soldier nodded.

When Katara drew the water from the ice collar back into her waterskin, the soldier coughed and wheezed out, "Bitch!" And this earned him another punch in the face from Sokka, this time the force of the punch with the combined lack of oxygen rendered him unconscious.

"We need to get to the palace, what's the quickest way from here?" Sokka demanded. "They already have a major head start on us, they could already be there!"

Katara thought for a moment. "The cook's entrance at the far end of the market, we'll have to go up through the kitchens."

With a nod to each other Sokka and Katara took off back through the city, leaving the unconscious solider frozen to the wall. Urgency fluttered in Katara's stomach demanding to know how she could have left Yue in the palace by herself, managing to keep pace with Sokka as they ran through labyrinthine back alleys. They didn't stop when they burst through the door to the kitchens, and Katara shouted to the palace guards to get to the entrance of the palace as they ran.

"Where will she be?" Sokka demanded.

Katara took the stairs two at a time. "Probably in the palace's Moon Spirit Temple."

Katara was right of course and the siblings found the princess on her knees before the Moon Spirit's altar. The Moon Spirit had given Yue life, brought her back from the brink of death as a newborn. Yue always said that because of this she felt a connection to the Moon Spirit, closer than anything she'd ever known because it was part of her. The Moon Spirit's Temple within the palace was where the princess went to escape, where she went for answers.

Sokka and Katara after explaining that Fire Nation soldiers were on their way lead the princess back to her chambers. "We need a plan, we can 't let them take her," Sokka said as he slammed the door. "And if we help her escape and they find that she's not here, they'll start killing people until she shows herself."

"… If I have to surrender myself to them to save my people I will," Yue said, ever the martyr.

Katara shook her head. "That is not an option! I have not worked my ass off to protect you only for you to surrender yourself to death! Your father would never forgive me."

Yue laid a hand on Katara's arm and squeezed gently. "He would understand."

Just as Katara opened her mouth to reply, there was a loud crash from beyond the door. The Fire Nation soldiers had breached the palace and it didn't take more than a minute for the sounds of fighting to echo through the walls. "Whatever we're planning, we need to make it quick," Sokka said.

Katara's decision was made for her without thought to the consequences. Her hands immediately began fumbling with the clasps and ties of her armor, struggling to get it off quickly. "Yue, give me a nice dress!"

"What!" she and Sokka exclaimed.

"They're here for the princess right?" Katara said, pulling the thick tunic over her head. Then her hands went to her hair, pulling it out of the braid at the back of her head and arranging it around her face. "No one outside of the Northern Water Tribe has ever seen the princess, they won't know I'm not her!"

Sokka's mouth set into a firm line, but he said nothing and instead turned around and stormed into Yue's dressing area. In a flustered panic, Yue crossed in front of Katara and gripped her by the shoulders with a surprising amount of strength. "I _can't_ let you do this, I will not let you! It's not your duty- "

"My _only_ duty is to _protect_ you!" She felt like it was the thousandth time she'd said it. "I took an oath that I would protect you until my dying day, that your life was more important than my own for the sake of your people, that I would lay down my life for yours without hesitation."

Katara took Yue's hands just as Sokka came back into the room with a dress over his forearm. "Let me do this for you, for your father, and _our_ people."

"Will this work?" Sokka wondered, holding the dress up for inspection. It was simple but elegant, fitting for a princess and if Katara remembered correctly it was the same dress Yue had worn for her sixteenth birthday celebration.

"Yes," Katara said, releasing Yue's hands and taking the dress.

As Yue helped Katara into the dress, the fighting outside the chamber doors grew louder and nearer, but Katara was thankful that the guards seemed to be giving the Fire Nation soldiers something to think about. Sokka stood in front of his sister, his expression stony, posture stiff. His eyes that were so like hers were conflicted, but she silently pleaded with him to understand _why_ she was doing this. Yue was her best friend, and if Katara could save another person she loved from being taken by the Fire Nation by taking their place, then that was what she would do. She knew Sokka would, without hesitation, do the same for her.

"Just promise me one thing, Sokka," she said and she sounded breathless.

"Anything," he said.

"If they kill me -"

"I will raze the Fire Nation to the ground," he vowed, his voice becoming tight. Then he took a step toward her, encircling her within the comfort of his arms, just like he had thousands of times before. "I love you, brat."

She laughed tightly into his shoulder. "I love you, goof."

The palace fell into an eerie silence then, and Katara tried to push the thought that the palace guards were probably dead to the back of her mind. She could not for a moment think of the people who had become her friends and family cut down by the very people that would, in a matter of moments, burst into the Princess's chamber. She prayed to the spirits for patience, for inner strength, the courage that had cost Katara's mother her life. She prayed that if the Fire Nation soldiers killed her that she would die on her feet, facing it head on. She would not give them the satisfaction of seeing her afraid, she would not cower, she would not beg.

Katara turned just as the chamber's doors flew open and three of the five Fire Nation soldiers stepped into the room while two of them stood guard at the door. The man in front removed his helmet revealing a harsh face and eyes that were narrow and cold, and promised danger despite their warm golden color. He appraised the chamber for a moment, running the palm of his hand along his sideburns as if in thought, ignoring the presence of the three people that had already occupied the room.

And Katara almost forgot to breathe when he finally raised his eyes to her and said, "Hello Princess."

She swallowed, steadied her rapid heart and replied, "Do you always barge into a lady's private chambers without knocking, …?" she trailed off, implying that she had yet to learn his name.

He moved around the room for a moment, and Katara knew that he must be someone important within the Fire Nation. It was in the way he carried himself and the way that he did not ever spare Sokka and Yue a glance, like they weren't even worth his notice. She didn't move when he walked around behind her, but she saw Sokka tighten his grip on the hilt of his weapon and at her side she could practically feel Yue trembling. Katara heard the man move toward the balcony, heard the handles turn and the doors swing open. The wind swept in with the sounds of war in the distance and Katara bit the inside of her lip so hard she tasted blood between her teeth because the room had gotten suddenly brighter.

"Zhao," he finally said. "Admiral Zhao."

"And why is it that you have come to my city, Admiral Zhao?" she demanded, hoping that her voice carried the cool confidence she didn't feel. But she would not turn toward him, she was royalty, damn it and he would come to her.

"I bring an invitation," he began and once again Katara heard his boots against the floor as he came to stand before her once again. "Fire Lord Ozai wishes to invite you to Caldera, to the Royal Palace, _Your Highness_." And he swung out his left arm, tucked his right into his chest and bowed so lowly to her that he could have kissed his own knees. It was a blatant mockery and Katara clenched her hands tightly in a reminder that they were severely outnumbered and that the _real_ princess was a noncombatant.

Katara stifled a laugh and spun on her heel, moving toward the open balcony. "Interesting," Katara said blandly. "All of this… unpleasantness for a simple invitation when one could have just been sent by messenger hawk." She wanted to throw up. "It almost seems as though I am not being given a choice."

Zhao came to stand beside her and Katara wished for nothing more than to wipe the sick grin off his face. "There is always a choice, Highness. For example, you can choose to accept the Fire Lord's gracious invitation and we will set sail immediately and put this… _unpleasantness_ behind us. Or, you can decline… in which case I'm afraid things are going to become… difficult."

Katara thought for several long moments, watching and hearing the battle in the distance. They really had just come for the princess, the breach of the outer wall was a distraction, as the fight had not progressed further into the city but stayed solely near the wall. And sadly, their forces were still losing. It was why the Fire Nation had held off their attack for the majority of the night, to shorten the time they would be weak, to draw the fight into the dawn.

"I'm afraid you don't have much time to contemplate, Princess, the dawn is approaching quickly... but I implore you to think of your people."

Katara couldn't bring herself to turn around and look at Yue or her brother. She couldn't bear the heartbreak on Sokka's face, the devastation in Yue's wide eyes. They would probably kill her once they were away from the North Pole, tell the tribe later that she had some terrible accident, cripple their morale only to try and completely crush them at another time. It had to have been their plan anyway. But what they didn't know was that it wouldn't happen. If anything, Katara's death as the "princess" would bring the people together, a rallying point and the vengeance for her death would swift and terrible.

"If I come with you, you will cease all hostilities against my people?" she asked.

"You have my word."

Only now did she turn around. "Then I accept your Fire Lord's invitation."

And when Zhao smiled at her, Katara was reminded of the villains in the stories her mother used to tell her, and felt suddenly like she had just fallen for some great, elaborate trick.

* * *

**Let me know what you thought please! :)  
I really appreciate all feedback! **

**-(gxr)-**


	2. Three Days Out

**One Selfless Act**

**Ch. 2 – Three Days Out**

_I must become a lion hearted girl  
Ready for a fight, before I make the final sacrifice_  
- Rabbit Heart, Florence + The Machine

Three days out from the North Pole and already Katara wanted to go home. It was doing nothing for her paranoia – _why hadn't they killed her yet?_ Surely they were not going to keep up the pretense that she was going to Royal Palace for her sake? Admiral Zhao and whoever else was in charge had to know that Katara was well aware that her life was forfeit the moment she stepped foot on the ship. Then again, perhaps they were trying to lure her into a false sense of security, and if that was the case, Katara was not going to fall for it. But that train of thought inevitably led into a more troubling one – what if they were indeed taking her to the Fire Nation only for a spectacle to be made of her death as a warning to anyone to dared defy the Fire Lord. None of these thoughts were helping her sleep at night.

So far, she'd stubbornly refused her meals on the off-chance that it was poisoned, instead carefully rationing out the jerky she'd managed to smuggle aboard. While Katara doubted that her death at the hands of the Fire Nation would come in the form of poison, she wasn't taking any chances. She'd already promised herself that if they were going to kill her, they were going to have to look her in the eyes as they did.

Stranger to Katara still was the fact that every crewman on the ship that she'd had brief interactions with were jarringly pleasant to her, even _nice_. It baffled her. Why bother when they would only watch her die soon enough? None of it made any sense, not even the fact that she'd been allowed to pack a decent sized rucksack of personal items and a trunk of clothing…

_Admiral Zhao watched with scrutiny as Katara and Yue moved from the dressers back to the trunk several times. And Katara could hear her heartbeat in her ears more nervous now that Sokka had gone to spread the word of the events that had transpired within the last hour. She had hoped that Yue would be the one to leave, wondering how Zhao honestly thought __**she**__ was the princess when Yue with her strange white hair and her ethereal beauty was still in the room. _

_ Try as she might to catch Yue's eye, the princess wasn't having it, but Katara could see well the angry blush that colored the apple of her cheeks and the effort it took for her not to cry. It was all Katara could do not to reach out and assure Yue that everything was going to be fine… even if she didn't believe it herself. _

_"I should tell you, the Fire Lord said that you are permitted to bring your handmaiden if you so desire," Zhao told her with disinterest. _

_Katara suppressed a groan as Yue's head shot up and there it was: hope. Maybe Yue thought that she could go with Katara after all, perhaps talk her out of this decision before things got out of hand. But Katara wouldn't have it, she had made her decision and Katara was nothing if not stubborn. She was doing this to protect Yue and she'd be damned if the princess was going to come anyway. _

_She shook her head and looked Yue directly in the eye, hoping that her remorse for the words she was about to speak shone through. "No," Katara said, "that won't be necessary, you wouldn't believe how completely useless she is."_

_A fresh flush of anger colored Yue's neck and cheeks as she turned away and continued packing the trunk, pushing the dresses down with more force than was entirely necessary. Katara closed her eyes and turned away, moving to the dresser once again as she tried to ignore the cold smile on Zhao's face. _

"I'm sorry, Yue," Katara mumbled now, her hand reaching for the vial of blessed water hung around her throat, the warmth of the glass having become a great comfort over the last few days.

Katara sighed and buried her face into her knees as, once again, her mind began to twist and turn. What if the Fire Nation _wasn't_ planning on killing her? Somehow that thought was more troubling than an imminent death. What would they do with her then, keep her prisoner within the Fire Nation, held as leverage against the Water Tribes? She wondered if her people would stage a rescue attempt, or if they would leave her in the Fire Nation content with the knowledge that she was _not_ the real Princess. Sokka wouldn't accept it surely, and Yue, who had been so adamant that Katara not do this, would not stand for it.

… At least she hoped so.

But now that the thought was in her head, Katara couldn't let it go. In the span of a few stuttering heartbeats, Katara envisioned her life as a "guest" of the Fire Lord: alone without a single soul she could trust, never a moment to herself and always watched, her every movements reported to the Fire Lord. A bird in a gilded cage. She would go mad within months. She was already going mad confined in this cabin for only _three days_.

A short knock sounded at the cabin door and as it opened Katara's hand drifted down to the dagger secured to her calf, hidden under the skirt of her dress. Her gaze drifted to the wall as she announced, "I am not hungry."

The chuckle that echoed into the silence caught Katara by surprise. She turned finding not a crewman, but a portly aging man wearing the uniform of a Fire Nation officer, smiling at her. "I thought you might like to join me for tea," he said, amicably.

"And why would I do such a thing?" Katara wondered, half of her hoping that if she put on the façade of a snotty royal it would dissuade him.

"Come now, Princess. You have been shut in this cabin for three days with little to eat if what the crewmen say is to be believed. I've had a lovely spread prepared above deck. Join me," the old man urged her. "Unless you would rather stay in this cabin for the remainder of the trip… it is quite dreary in here."

Despite herself, Katara wanted to go with him, if only to get out of the cabin and she hated herself for it. Maybe he was to be her executioner, luring her out of the safety of her cabin with promises of sunlight and tea. Perhaps it would be easier for her to turn him down if only the old man would stop looking at her and _smiling_ like that, patiently as if he could wait there for all of time for her answer.

The old man cleared his throat and looked down. "If it would make you feel better, you can bring that dagger you are clutching." Katara's shock made her release the hilt of the knife and she turned wide eyes to the old man. To her irritation, he looked back at her with entirely innocent eyes, the smile still stretched across his face.

The old man offered her no explanation as to how he knew about the dagger strapped to her leg and truly, she didn't want to know. It was the only thing that brought her the slightest bit of comfort these last few days, knowing that if it came down to it, Katara could hold her own in a fight without revealing that she was a bender. Perhaps she was permitted to keep it because no one thought she could really use it – they didn't perceive her as a threat.

Slowly, Katara moved from her position in the corner of the cot, scooting herself toward the edge. "Do not think this means I trust you, old man," she warned him lowly.

If anything, his smile only grew at the corners, genuinely entertained. "I would not dream of it, Princess, but please believe me when I tell you that I wish you no harm."

"We'll see," she quipped and made to reach for her coat.

"You won't be needing that, Princess," the old man told her as he turned from the doorway, "it is a beautiful day today."

With a sigh, Katara turned from the coat and made to follow the old man out of the cabin. "My name is Katara," she informed him impatiently, stepping over the threshold and into the dimly lit hallway. Really, everyone calling her "Princess" was something that Katara had not gotten accustomed to yet.

The old man looked over his shoulder and in the half-light Katara could see that he raised an eyebrow at her. Something in her chest constricted at the sight, a sudden panic clutched her heart – while she was sure that no one outside of the Northern Water Tribe had ever _seen_ Yue, that did not necessarily mean no one knew her name. She cursed herself for the oversight, but it was too late to take it back now so Katara looked away quickly hoping that the expression on her face had not revealed the abrupt panic roiling through her nerves.

Katara followed the old man through the belly of the ship making a conscious effort to control her stride. Another thing she wasn't used to and a jarring difference between herself and Yue – the way the two carried themselves was vastly different. Yue was graceful and demure, when she walked it looked as though she merely glided over the ground with her hands folded in front of her. Katara on the other hand was anything but, she walked with purpose, her stride confident and sure, arms swinging lightly at her sides. Katara wondered if she looked as foolish as she felt taking smaller steps, making sure that her feet didn't make too much of a noise as she put one in front of the other.

Sokka would be laughing himself sick if he could see her.

But for a moment, it seemed worth it when she followed the old man out onto the main deck and the sunlight washed over Katara's cheeks. She breathed in the smell of the salty sea air with near reverence; it was almost a constant quality of the air in the North Pole and even though she had only been without it for three days, Katara hadn't realized how much she missed it. And suddenly with the sound of the waves crashing against the steel of the ship, and her pulse now beating in time with the swell and recede, she felt just a little braver.

At least until a burst of fire from someone on deck caused her to startle and trip over the skirt of her dress. The old man helped Katara back to her feet, asking her if she was alright and while she assured him that she was, Katara turned to give the offending Firebender a scathing look. Having Sokka as a brother, it was a look that Katara had perfected but when she met _his_ eyes, she felt the glare melt from her expression and the intense weight of his gaze pinned her to the spot. Katara was sure that some time ago he was quite handsome, but the left side of his face was stretched and puckered with a horrid looking scar and his expression was only marred further by the sneer that twisted his mouth.

Whoever he was, he looked at Katara like she was the bane of his existence.

He turned away first, sending another blast of fire at his sparring opponent and it took Katara more effort than she would have liked to admit to turn away from the sight of the sunlight on his pale expanse of his back. Firebender or not, Katara was still a young woman and she still appreciated the sight of a well-built male.

She shook her head, banishing the thought as she took the seat at the small table the old man led to her to. He sat himself down across from her and poured them both some tea, serving himself a few of the cookies and small sandwiches that had been prepared for them. She didn't touch anything, the irrational idea that the food might yet be poisoned at the forefront of her mind even as she watched the old man sip his tea and munch on more cookies than sandwiches.

Instead Katara turned her gaze to the ocean view, hoping that it might bring some sense of calm to her. The sky reflected perfectly against the dark, distant waters, its mirrored surface only disturbed by the small, white capped waves. In only three days they were already out of arctic waters, and the only thing to see for miles in any direction were the Fire Nation ships that raided the North Pole. In a few more days those same ships would be making port in the Fire Nation and that thought mildly terrified Katara – she was so sure that she'd be dead already. _What does the Fire Lord want with the Princess?_ Katara asked herself for what must have been the hundredth time.

"Your tea is getting cold, Katara."

Katara blinked away her train of thought and turned her attention back to the small tea cup sitting before her. Indeed it had gotten cold as steam no longer coiled from the surface. The old man reached across the table and picked up her cup, cradling it in his hands and in a moment steam began to once again rise from the tea cup which he placed back in front of her with a smile.

"I…" Katara trailed off awkwardly. She had come with him to join him for tea, and yet there she sat _not drinking her tea_.

He smiled indulgently at her. "It is not poisoned," he reassured her, as if he could read her thoughts.

As she reached out for the delicate handle of the tea cup, Katara made no attempt to hide the fact that her hand was shaking and she wondered if her heart was going to pound right out of her chest and onto the table as she took a sip. The tea was a little bitter with an almost earthy taste, and it left a dry patch on her tongue – it had been steeped for a little too long. She waited with bated breath for something to happen, for her body to fling itself onto the deck, writhing in agony as whatever poison that was in it took effect. But to her relief, it never happened.

"Do you like it?"

"It's… a bit bitter," she admitted. The old man held out a small dish filled with sugar cubes and Katara dropped four into her cup ignoring the surprise that crossed his face. "Thank you," she said and took another sip. _Perfect_.

The old man picked up another cookie and cleared his throat, "That is a lovely bracelet you have," he told her, nodding to the cuff circling her right wrist.

Katara looked down at the piece of jewelry, wondering if he was giving her a backhanded compliment because it was nothing special really. She thought it was quite pretty, of course, but then again the only piece of jewelry Katara had ever owned was her mother's necklace which was now in safely Sokka's possession because he reasoned that if he had it then Katara would return to him. The cuff was simple gold, but the beautiful thing about it was the design engraved on it; green agate had been inlaid into the engravings, creating an intricate vined pattern, but the attention grabbing feature was the ivory lotus that sat just on top of her wrist.

"Thank you," she said quietly. "It was a gift."

_At Zhao's behest, the four other Fire Nation soldiers he brought with him carried out the things Katara was taking with her. It surprised her really, Katara was sure that he would think the act too demeaning for his men, but then again if the soldiers were carrying her things then there was less of a chance that someone would slip something "dangerous" into the trunk or rucksack. _

_Yue held Katara's hand tightly as they followed the Fire Nation soldiers back through the palace and Katara was beyond grateful that there were no bodies littering the palace corridors. The Princess's hand clasped in her own was as a much a comfort to Katara as her own was to Yue's. She drew strength from Yue's unwavering love for her people, her quiet courage and tranquil presence. _

_"I don't want you to go," Yue whispered quietly, and she pressed her forehead to Katara's temple as they walked. _

_Katara's free hand came up and she laid it over the one gripping her arm, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "I know," she replied. "And you must never let anyone tell you that you're a coward by letting me do this for you." _

_Yue said nothing, but Katara felt her nod._

_"Promise me!" she hissed. _

_"I… I promise," the Princess finally intoned._

_Katara nodded in reply and continued, "You are the bravest person I know, Yue, never forget that." _

_There was a small crowd of people gathered in the entrance hall of the palace, all of them unease and tension. Beside her, Katara heard Yue sniffle seeing the people there and Katara squeezed Yue's hand so tightly that her own hand hurt. She was not going to allow Yue to feel poorly for this decision when Katara had all but forced her hand. _

_"… I will give you five minutes to say your farewells, Princess," Admiral Zhao told her flatly, his expression twisted with distaste. _

_The Admiral stepped out of earshot, motioning for this men to go wait outside with the luggage. Chief Arnook stepped forward first, not surprising considering that he was her "father". The expression on his face was almost heartbreaking and Katara thought for a moment that he would blow their cover, but the man did not hesitate when he drew Katara into the circle of his arms. For her part, Katara was the one who hesitated just the slightest because the warmth of a father's embrace was something she had not experienced for a long time. But she relished it now, and even though Arnook was not her father, he pressed Katara to him as though he were._

_"I do not know what to say to you, Katara," he admitted into her shoulder. "You are saving my daughter's life, perhaps at the cost of your own." _

_ "Isn't that my job?" she joked pathetically._

_"This goes beyond that and you know it." It was quiet, but his scolding tone was not lost on her. "If there is a way to bring you home, we will find it, I swear to you." _

_Arnook drew away from her then, stooping to drop a kiss to her forehead and he stayed beside her as he waved Master Pakku forward. Katara was surprised to say the least, the Master waterbender being the last person she expected to see in the palace at such a time. His wizened features were troubled as he stepped forward, and he paused before her, seeming unsure of himself and Katara had to resist the urge to smile at him because Pakku was __**never**__unsure of himself. Suddenly, he lowered his head then bent at the waist before her presenting Katara with the back of his neck. _

_Katara almost scrambled back in shock. Pakku was bearing himself before her, showing her a respect she had never seen him give another. Katara had thought that her exchange with Arnook would tighten her throat, but it was watching this Master waterbender prostrate himself before her that brought the burning in the corners of her eyes. _

_"I have a gift for you… Ka – Princess, if you would accept it," Pakku said as he stood. _

_Katara nodded. "Of course, Master Pakku." _

_It was then that he presented her with the golden cuff, taking it upon himself to clasp it around her wrist. "As you go beyond your home, it will bring you luck and protection," he told her quietly._

_"Thank you, Master Pakku." _

_The old man did no reply, but stepped away from her to reveal Sokka. And Katara didn't care what Admiral Zhao would think as she threw her arms around Sokka's neck, burying her face into the crook of his neck and breathing in the scent of leather and soap and sweat. Sokka's arms locked with a bruising force around her back and his chest shuddered against hers with every breath he took._

_"Look after Yue while I'm gone Sokka," Katara uttered. _

_He nodded. "I promise." _

_And then suddenly, Katara felt Sokka's shaking fingers at the nape of her neck, pushing her hair aside. She pulled back abruptly, feeling her neck become bare and in Sokka's hands he held their mother's necklace leaving her with only the vial of blessed water. _

_"What – "_

_"If I hold onto this," Sokka cut her off, "you'll definitely come back for it." _

_Katara said nothing, but the sadness in Sokka's eyes told her why he really took it. If they were truly going to kill Katara, then he wanted the one thing that meant the most to her. _

Katara shook the memory from her mind. It had been harder than she thought it would be to leave the North Pole, but perhaps that was because she thought she had been leaving it only to go to her death.

And if Katara wasn't dead already, then it begged the question: "What does the Fire Lord want with me?"

The old man looked up from his cup, the surprise evident in his raised eyebrows. "My brother? I cannot say, he rarely tells me his plans."

Katara almost fell off her chair in shock. It was no wonder that no one said anything to the old man about allowing Katara out of her cabin – she'd been having tea with General Iroh, the Dragon of the West.

* * *

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I'm glad that you guys like it so far! :) **

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